


animal arithmetic

by hart



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Past Kylo Ren/ Poe Dameron, i swear this is a happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 17:58:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5636446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hart/pseuds/hart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Rey," he whispers, as she dumps the wet-dog towel into the sink. "Rey, I think I'm in love."<br/>Rey snorts.<br/>"Your one true love is probably wondering where his tea is," she whispers back. </p><p>[the one where finn is a barista in the sweet, somewhat derelict 'maz's caf', and poe is the painfully charming customer he can't stop thinking about.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	animal arithmetic

**Author's Note:**

> title from animal arithmetic by jonsi.

"That thing's gonna break by the end of November."

Finn nods his head in the direction of the singular radiator within Maz's Caf; a huge, ancient contraption that groans like a ship in a gale. He's leaning over the wooden counter, half asleep, when Rey strolls past him. She ignores his complaints and whips him on the backside with a tea-towel.

"Hey!"

"Shush, you," she ducks closer to her friend's indignant face, lowering her voice and subtly warning; "Super hot customer at six o'clock."

Finn spins round a little too fast to catch sight of what might possibly be the best looking person to ever step inside the derelict cafe. He's smiling, running a hand through his dark hair as he steps out of the cold and into the warm, brushing light flakes of snow off a slightly distressed leather jacket. Nuzzling at his ankles is a small, damp dog.

Finn manages to close his mouth before Rey starts laughing, and when the man comes up to the counter Finn can see snow on his eyelashes and a bruise on his chin.

"Can I get a cup of tea and a blueberry muffin, please?"

Finn blinks at him.

"Sorry, I do order here, right?" the man asks, and Finn mentally kicks himself.

"Yes! Yes- sorry, head in the clouds," he leaps into action, laughing nervously and picturing where, specifically, he's going to dig his own grave after his shift ends.

But the customer laughs along with him, with a reassuring 'I know the feeling', and Finn only just manages to hand over his order and take his money without melting into a puddle.

"Thanks, buddy," the man says, gathering his things and leaving with a smile, dog in close pursuit.

Finn stares at the door in a daze, before he hears a familiar voice in his ear. 

"Please stop drooling on the counter; it's awfully unhygienic."

Rey just about dodges the biscuit thrown at her head as she darts back into the kitchen.

 

***

"He's here again."

Finn looks up from a particularly irritating game of Flappy Bird to see _him,_  the gorgeous customer and his dog, strolling into the cafe.

"Try not to stare this time," Rey says, dropping a quick kiss to Finn's cheek before heading around the counter, starting to clear away tables. Finn glares at her back before straightening up and facing the customer with a smile he hopes looks welcoming and not unhinged.

"Hi," the man says. Finn fights to hold onto his composure. "Can I get a cup of tea and a blueberry muffin, please?"

"Good muffins, right?" Finn quips, and immediately he wants to punch himself in the face. That sounded stupid. One way or another that had to sound so stupid.

"Really good," the man agrees, and Finn beams. Of course 'good muffins' is the pick-up line to any man's heart. He must have sounded so cool.

"To be honest with you, though, I didn't eat the whole thing last time. BB8 kinda stole half of it."

Finn pauses, hand hovering where he's dunking a tea bag into a cardboard cup.

"BB8?"

"My dog," the man explains.

"Ah right, I see," Finn smiles, although he totally doesn't see that BB8 is any kind of obvious name for a dog. "It looks like he's made a friend."

The man turns round to where Finn's pointing, and BB8 is snuffling at Rey's calves as she tries to clear away used cutlery and crumbs, despite her attempts to shoo him away with her dishcloth.

"He's kind of clingy," the dog's owner laughs, turning back to Finn.

"What kind of dog is he?" Finn asks as if he knows the difference between a poodle and a labrador, having grown up without a single pet.

"I don't know, I think he's a Havanese? He's a rescue dog- his presence keeps me sane," the man looks to BB8 with such a loving expression that Finn thinks his chest is going to explode.

"Is his the only presence keeping you sane?" he blurts out before he can stop himself. 

Westgate Cemetery. He can picture it now; Westgate Cemetery is where he will dig his own grave.

"Something like that," the man replies, and smiles that goddamn smile again, picking up the bag with his tea and his muffin. "My name's Poe. Poe Dameron."

Finn's not sure why he tells him, or what to do with this information, but his chest swells.

"Uh, right. Nice to meet you Poe," he grins. "I'm Finn."

Poe nods.

"I know," he says, turning to call BB8 out of the cafe's door and leaving Finn utterly mystified.

"He knew my _name_ ," he says wistfully as Rey comes through carrying a tray laden with leftovers. "How did he know my name?"

"Maybe he's _magic_ ," Rey stage-whispers, waving her free hand around like she's casting some kind of spell, before bringing it down to flick the hard plastic badge on Finn's shirt.

"Or maybe it's on your fucking name-tag."

***

 

Poe comes into Maz's Caf almost every day for two weeks, and Finn thinks maybe he's in love. BB8 always by his side, and old leather jacket always on his shoulders, and that smile always, _always_ on his face. By the fifth time he's come in Finn begins making his order without him having to ask, and Poe leans on the counter in a way that's so devil-may-care Finn thinks he's staring at a better-looking James Dean for a minute. Even Rey's warming to his dog.

"Do you think I should ask him for his number?" Finn muses one night, laying across the sofa in his and Rey's clustered flat as she sits cross-legged on the floor, munching the last of their pizza.

"He'll never give it to you," she says, and Finn moves to flick her.

"Ouch!"

"You are _so_ evil," he huffs, slumping back down as Rey starts laughing hysterically.

"What? Will you stop laughing, you witch, what is so funny?"

"You're such an idiot," Rey giggles, "I was joking. He's obviously as smitten as you."

Finn sits up, scratching his head.

"Really?"

"Finn, Maz's is, what, the _worst_ cafe in town? Or maybe the second worst? I don't know if you've noticed but the food's grim, the heating's fucked, and we have never had _one_ regular as long as we've been working there. I bet he feeds the muffin to the dog when you're not looking. The tea's only safe because he doesn't have milk in it."

"Don't humour me, Rey," Finn groans. "He's way out of my league."

"I don't think that's true." Rey shrugs, turning to pick the mushrooms off the last slice of pizza.

Finn rolls back to stare at the ceiling with a sigh.

***

 

The next time Poe walks into Maz's Caf the radiator has finally broken. Rey's sat grumbling behind the counter, woolen-clad arms wrapped tight around her chest despite Finn's point that _if you got up and did something you'd get warm._

"If Maz sees you doing nothing she'll make you tidy the back room."

Rey shudders at the prospect- or the cold- but makes no effort to move.

"When does Maz _ever_ come in? It might as well be 'Rey and Finn's Caf'," she says bitterly.

"'Finn and Rey's'," Finn corrects, and the front door springs open before she can punch him without any witnesses.

Poe brings in a small flurry of snow before shutting the door behind him.

"Hey," he says somewhat out of breath, cheeks pink, "can the dog come in? He's kinda soggy."

Rey's hopped down from her stool and gathered up an old towel before Finn can blink, leaning down in front of BB8 who greets her with a wagging tail.

"Of course you can stay, can't you, baby," she coos, rubbing BB8's wet fur.

Poe shrugs at Finn.

"You know, she doesn't _like_ dogs," Finn says in a low voice.

"He's not a dog, he's an angel," Rey calls without turning around.

Poe laughs, unraveling a thick green scarf as he makes his way to the counter. Finn can see there's a dark, angry looking mark just poking out from under his jacket collar. Butterfly stitches adorn a cut on the side of his nose, and Finn nods at it whilst dragging out a blueberry muffin from a glass-domed cake stand.

"What did you do to your nose?" he queries, pulling the box of tea bags down from a shelf.

Poe raises a hand to the injury.

"Walked into a cupboard," he says little guiltily. "Might have had a pint or two. Do you mind if I sit in today? There's practically a blizzard outside."

Finn raises an eyebrow at the empty cafe.

"We got enough tables."

Poe smiles, taking the muffin and settling into a window seat, pulling out a small notebook and a stubby pencil from his jacket pocket and gazing out at the snowstorm. Finn watches with wide eyes as he begins to sketch the scene; pencil making quick, rough movements over the paper in shapes he can't quite see from the counter.

"Rey," he whispers, as she dumps the wet-dog towel into the sink. "Rey, I think I'm in love."

Rey snorts.

"Your one true love is probably wondering where his tea is," she whispers back.

"Fuck," Finn hisses, shoving the steaming mug onto a tray and quickly making his way over to the table.

Before he reaches it, however, a sudden leap from BB8 aimed at Finn's legs sends the tray flying- thankfully backwards onto his own chest.

"Oh my _God_ , I am _so_ sorry!"

Poe leaps to his feet, catching the falling mug before it smashes, apologies tumbling from his lips in an endless stream as the tray clatters to the floor. Before Finn quite knows what's going on Poe's tugging the sodden jumper over his head, discarding it onto the nearest chair and shrugging off his own jacket.

"Here, here, it's freezing."

"No, honestly, it's fine-" Finn protests, only a little unconvincingly because it _is_ freezing, and _damn_ , Poe's arms need to never be in sleeves again.

"No, I insist, Finn," Poe practically shoves the jacket onto him, pushing a few bits of mud and snow from the shoulders before stepping back. "Hey, that suits you."

Finn's looking at Poe doe-eyed.

"What?"

"Nothing," Finn smiles. "I just think that's the first time you've said my name."

Poe bites his lip, and Finn's fairly sure that he has birds in his chest where butterflies should be.

"I'll, um," he clears his throat before he can give into the temptation to launch himself at Poe's mouth. "I'll go get you another cup of tea."

***

Poe insists that Finn sits with him after that, cutting his muffin down the middle and pushing one half towards the barista.

"I really am sorry," he says again, and Finn shakes his head.

"Please, stop, it's fine. It's just tea- you've lent me your jacket, there's nothing to worry about."

Poe hesitates before nodding in resignation.

"It's a good jacket," Finn says, attempting to start some kind of conversation that doesn't revolve around the spilling of hot beverages. Surprisingly, it seems to work.

"Came with the job," Poe says. "I test planes- it's a pilot's jacket."

Finn tries not to gawk.

"You're a test pilot?"

"Yeah, it's, uh, it's not as cool as it sounds. I mean- it is _quite_ cool," Poe laughs. "Both my parents were pilots; I guess it kinda came naturally to me. Sometimes I think I'd rather be an artist, but that's just stress-relief, really."

Finn looks down at the notebook left on the table. A beautiful, snowy scene is half-finished on the open page.

"Both your parents are pilots?" he asks, looking back up after he realises he's been in silent awe for almost a minute.

"Were," Poe says, eyes dipping. "They're both dead now, actually."

Finn's heart beats in his throat, and he nods.

"I know how that is," he says cautiously, and Poe looks back up. He doesn't say anything, so Finn guesses he can continue. "Me and Rey; we were sort of drifters I guess. But Maz has been amazing. She took us both in, gave us jobs. She's even given us the flat next door."

"You live next door?"

"Yeah. It's kind of a shithole," he laughs. "But it's definitely better than nothing."

Poe's staring at him again. Finn can't read him, but he knows that he's never seen anyone look so interested in him in his entire life. It makes him feel a lot more interesting than he is.

"Finn-" Poe starts, but there's a sudden blare of harsh, tinny music from inside Poe's jeans pocket. Poe drags out a cellphone, paling slightly as he looks at the screen before pressing a button and raising it to his ear.

"Yep," he says tightly, and Finn frowns. "Yeah, I know. No, Jesus, Ben, it's not my problem anymore. I- I know I'm sorry, I didn't mean- oh for god's sake, no, don't do that, I- yeah, okay. Okay. I'll be right over."

Shoving the phone back into his pocket with a grim expression, Poe gathers up his scarf and calls BB8 over, apologizing to Finn and almost running from the cafe in a whirlwind.

For what feels like the millionth time, Finn's left staring at the door in a daze. Poe's jacket is still around his shoulders.

 

***

"It's been a _week_ , Rey," Finn mourns.

Rey sighs.

"I know, babe."

"I don't get it."

"I know, babe."

"Can you stop saying 'I know, babe'?"

Rey sighs again, sitting upright from her position on the sofa and leaving Finn with his legs over the back and his head hanging upside down off the edge of the seat.

"I don't get it either," she admits, placing her hand in the centre of Finn's chest and rubbing her thumb in circular motions over his shirt. "He was super into you."

"I was super into him," Finn huffs. "Maybe I was just wearing wine-tinted glasses."

"Rose-tinted glasses," Rey says. "Honestly, Finn, I don't think you were. He _was_  into you. He bought one of those disgusting muffins almost every day. I don't think I'd be prepared to do that for anyone."

"This isn't making me feel any better."

"Sorry."

Finn groans, dislodging Rey's hand as he swings his feet off the back of the sofa, standing to pace their kitchen-stroke-living-room restlessly.

"Hey, Finn?" Rey tries, crossing her legs and looking pitifully at her flatmate.

"What?"

"Will pizza make you feel better?"

Finn glares.

"No," he growls, slumping back down on the sofa next to her with a scowl. A heavy silence descends upon them for a minute as Rey sits awkwardly and Finn fixes the wall with a dark look.

Suddenly Rey finds a cellphone being thrust into her palm.

"Get extra mushrooms," Finn grumbles, face still stony and avoiding eye contact.

Rey tries not to let her smile show.

***

` 

Finn rolls over on his lumpy bed, one eye opening to see that, yes, it _is_ two in the morning. The ugly, red numbers of his alarm clock blink unrelentingly, and he wonders who in their right mind could be buzzing on the doorbell at two in the goddamn morning. He watches the numbers flicker from 2:01 to 2:02, and thinks maybe he imagined it, until that hideously grating blare comes again.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," he moans into his pillow, pushing himself up and dragging on the sweatpants strewn at the bottom of his bed. By the time the bell sounds for the third time he's just about managed to rub his eyes into functioning in the dark.

"Jesus, _alright_ ," he hollers, wondering who Rey sold her soul to to be able to sleep through anything and everything she chooses. Padding barefoot down the splintering stairs of their flat, Finn heaves a grieving sigh before unlinking the lock chain and flinging the door open.

His tirade of irritability dies on his tongue as he's faced with Poe Dameron- soaked through in nothing but a woolen sweater and jeans, bleeding from his lip and his nose and his hair plastered to his forehead. His left arm is clutching at his right side, and a dripping BB8 shivers around his ankles.

"Poe," is all Finn manages, mouth agape.

"I'm sorry," he starts. "I'm sorry, I know this is ridiculous, I just- can I stay here? Just for tonight? I promise, I'll be no trouble. It's the dog, really, I want the dog to be somewhere safe. I know this is unfair of me to ask. Please?"

The last word hits Finn's chest like a defibrillator.

"Of course. God, of course, sorry, come in-" he steps aside and BB8 runs past his ankles and up the stairs faster than his little legs should carry him. Poe shuts the door behind him and follows Finn up into his flat.

"Hey, um, sit down, hang on."

Finn gestures to his sinking sofa, suddenly very aware how messy the room is. He flicks the kettle on and pulls an ugly crotchet blanket down from the top of the book case.

"Here," Finn hands it to Poe, along with a tissue for his nose.

Poe begins to tug off his soaking jumper, and Finn catches a glimpse of the muscular 'v' of his hips as his t-shirt rides up, suddenly feeling the urge to blush. Glad to have an excuse to turn away he pours out a cup of tea and offers the box of pizza left-overs to BB8. Poe wraps the blanket around his shoulders and sits on the couch.

"Thank you so much," he breathes, blood-streaked smile reaching his ears as Finn presses the steaming mug into his hands sits down next to him. Poe takes the first few sips in a weighted silence. 

"You're always smiling," Finn notes absently. Poe lets out a shaky laugh.

"Not always," he says. He pushes a wet strand of hair from his eyes. "I'm sorry. It's my ex. He's, uh, he's got some problems."

"You don't have to tell me anything, Poe," Finn says gently, but Poe shakes his head.

"No, no, I'm using your couch, I owe you an explanation."

Finn bites the inside of his mouth and says nothing. Poe says nothing either, for a while. He sips his tea a couple more times, before speaking up slowly; quietly.

"His name's Ben. He's got some problems with his family- serious anger issues. Sometimes he just... lashes out. I stayed for a while because I think, sometimes, he really can't help it. And then I stayed because I didn't know what he'd do if I didn't. But I can't- I couldn't anymore. He _kicked my dog_ , Finn, I- God, I'm sorry, I'm completely rambling."

"No; you're shaking," Finn says, watching Poe's fingers tremble around his mug. "Do you want anything stronger than tea?"

Poe laughs and says _God, yes,_ and Finn gets up to pour out two mugs of wine. It's cheap, because it's all him and Rey can afford, but he thinks it's probably a hairsbreadth more sensible than mugfuls of One-Stop vodka. When he returns to the couch they both down their first mugfuls in silence. Finn wonders if it's a good idea to have more, but pours them another each as Poe's already visibly relaxing. BB8 shuffles around their feet, and Poe ruffles the damp fur on top his head with a weary smile.

"So, did you, like, break up tonight?" Finn presses softly. He doesn't want to pry, but he's painfully curious and more than slightly concerned. Poe nods with a bitter grimace.

"I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. But it had been too long coming- we both knew it. He never used to be _bad_. He's always been angry. But until about a month ago that was all he was. Angry, I mean. He was _never_ violent. And I guess-" he takes a deep breath and looks down at his knees. "I guess you kind of had something to do with it."

Taking a gulp of his wine, he glances back up at Finn nervously. Finn looks confused.

"We've known each other for three weeks."

It comes out a lot more deadpan than he intends. Because how could someone like Poe like someone like _him_? Poe, who tests planes, and sketches for stress relief, and has the chiseled face of a classic movie heartthrob and a smile that could melt anyone's heart. Let alone the heart of a broke barista who wears charity shop jumpers and has hands too clumsy for his own job.

"I didn't mean-" he starts quickly, but Poe holds up a hand, shaking his head.

"No, no, I know. It's just you were so easy to talk to, you know? Are easy to talk to. And the way you smiled every time- I mean I know you were just doing your job, but you make me feel- God, I'm being ridiculous-"

Finn's put his mug down and bridges the distance between the two of them in a second, pressing his lips to Poe's with maybe too much force, but Poe reaches up with his spare hand to cradle the back of Finn's neck immediately, knocking the blanket from his shoulders. Finn's a little taken aback by how keenly Poe responds and uses all the self restraint he has not to rip off his clothes right there; instead carefully taking the mug of wine from Poe's hand and placing it blindly on the floor, pushing Poe back onto the sofa until he's nearly laying on top of him. When Poe opens his mouth to deepen the kiss Finn obliges gladly. His mouth tastes like wine and blood- and suddenly Poe winces, pulling back, and Finn feels like an _idiot_.

"Shit, Poe, I'm sorry."

Poe shakes his head, pressing his hand to the split on his lip before pulling Finn back in.

"It's fine, it's fine," he breathes against Finn's lips, kissing him again- a little softer this time. When Poe's hips roll up to grind against Finn's he groans, and BB8 barks at the two of them, making Poe startle.

"Not here," Finn says, and Poe nods breathlessly, pupils blown. Finn drags them both up off the sofa, throwing an apologetic glance at the dog before leading Poe into his bedroom and closing the door.

 

As soon as they're inside Finn has Poe backed up against the nearest wall, kissing down his neck and mouthing at the edge of his t-shirt, running a hand through his damp hair. Poe shivers against the touch, trying to pull Finn's shirt up over his head without much success. Finn stands up straight, allowing Poe to tug the thing off before making quick work of Poe's own shirt and jeans before kicking himself out of his sweatpants, and Poe catches sight of a familiar item where they fall.

"You kept my jacket."

Finn smiles.

"You said it suits me."

When they're both down to their boxers and breathing heavily Finn pushes Poe down onto the bed, and tries _so_ hard not to do some kind of victory dance just yet. 

"God, you're gorgeous," slips past his lips, and Poe reaches up and drags him down in a hungry, open-mouthed kiss, and he thinks maybe his lip starts bleeding again but the way Poe's moving up against Finn's thigh and making tiny, gasping breaths into his mouth means he can't quite be sure of anything right now.

Finn breaks away from the kiss to straddle Poe, taking a moment to properly look at the man between his thighs. The dim light casts shadows across his toned stomach and tanned skin, and Finn thinks maybe he could be dreaming it all if it weren't for the fading bruises across his abs, his arms- and, God, one across his side is so dark and large Finn knows that it must have been from earlier that night. There's another deep, purpling mark below one of Poe' ears, and Finn knows it wasn't put there with love. Poe shifts uncomfortably, trying to escape Finn's gaze, but there's nowhere to hide.

"Is he gonna look for you?"

"Finn, stop. It's done," Poe reaches a hand up to Finn's cheek, as if he's the one who's hurt, and something about it makes Finn's heart thump. "He knows that. He's not a dangerous person. He's just got-"

"Issues, right?"

Poe chews his lip and nods stiffly. Finn tries not to look worried.

"Finn, it's done," Poe says quieter this time, almost a whisper, and Finn takes a deep breath before placing a feather-light kiss to Poe's cheek.

He ghosts the same kiss upon the cut to his lip, the bite on his neck, and upon each dark and yellowing bruise on his arms and his chest, and when he kisses the one on Poe's ribs Finn can feel the sharp intake of breath beneath his lips. Finn slips his fingers into the elastic waistband of Poe's boxers as he kisses further down the pilot's body, pulling the underwear down torturously slow.

Poe groans, wriggling himself free and pulling Finn back up to kiss at his neck, fingers tugging at Finn's boxers with much less patience until they're both naked and panting against each other. Finn reaches down to encircle Poe's dick, and Poe lets out an obscene noise into Finn's shoulder as he starts moving his hand.

" _God_ , Finn," he groans, pushing into his hold with quickly diminishing self control.

Finn captures his lips again, and it's less kissing, more moaning into each other's mouths as Finn works himself up against Poe's thigh.

"Finn, fuck me," Poe gasps out, and his voice is so frayed Finn nearly comes right there.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure, God, Finn, _please_."

The last word comes out in a whimper, and with that Finn's dragging a bottle from the top of his bedside table and throwing a condom in the vague direction of the pillows, coating his fingers with lube and gently pushing one inside Poe. Poe's head falls back, and his eyes shut, and if Finn weren't so close to having sex with the man he's been wanting for weeks he thinks he could just stare at him forever. Poe's eyes flicker open and he smirks.

"Take a picture, lasts longer," he manages to get out.

"Next time," Finn promises. "Is this okay?"

"Yes, more," Poe begs, shutting his eyes again, and Finn slips another finger inside him. Poe begins to work himself down against Finn's hand until his mouth falls open and every breath comes out shallow and desperate, and when Finn pushes another finger in, Poe reaches out and grabs at his wrist.

" _Finn_ ," he pleads.

Finn moves quickly, pulling away to roll on the condom, and Poe whines at the loss of his fingers in a way that Finn thinks shouldn't be legal, but soon he's pushing back into him and Poe wraps his legs around Finn's waist, clinging onto his back like he's the only thing keeping him grounded.

"Fuck, Finn," he moans. Finn pauses to let him adjust but Poe just shakes his head, breathlessly, "No, no, no, keep going, keep going, that's good."

Finn fucks into him, slowly at first, until Poe starts clawing at his shoulder blades and Finn thrusts forwards with little rhythm because, _God_ , neither of them are going to last long. Finn's hips drive forward at an angle that must be just right because Poe cries out and digs his nails into Finn's skin.

" _Fuck_ ," he groans. "Fuck, fuck, Finn, I'm close-"

Finn can barely gather enough breath to say he is too, pushing back into Poe's body with stuttering movements. One hand braced against the bed frame, his other takes hold of Poe's dick again, moving in time with his faltering thrusts, and Finn leans down to press the softest of kisses to the angry mark on Poe's neck, and Poe's coming over his stomach with a shout of Finn's name. One final thrust has Finn coming too, and he collapses onto Poe's chest with a groan. He can't motivate himself to roll off him for a good two minutes. When he does they're still both breathless.

"Was that-"

"Yeah," Poe says, turning to Finn with a blissed-out expression. "Yeah, that was."

Poe reaches out to touch Finn's face once more, and Finn begins to think maybe he hasn't had the chance to touch someone with such gentle intentions for a while. Poe stares at Finn's lips as he traces them with his finger, and they curve into a smile beneath his touch.

"Take a picture," Finn whispers, and Poe laughs.

***

 

"If he's that loud every night, he can't stay."

"You're happy for me, just admit it," Finn says, as he leans over his flatmate to take a carton of orange juice. "I thought you could sleep through an earthquake."

"The dog can stay," Rey retorts with her chin stuck out defiantly, eyes tired and only half annoyed. BB8 barks happily from his new place on the couch.

"He has to stay, anyway," Finn says, pulling two glasses down from above the fridge. "He's not going back there."

"He's a big boy, Finn," Rey sighs, but her face softens as she curls up on the sofa next to the dog, box of dry cereal under one arm. "But no, of course he can stay. Makes sense, now, right? Why he didn't turn up for a week."

"Mm," Finn hums thoughtfully. "Why don't you use milk like any other human being?"

"Why don't you _buy_ milk like any other human being?" Rey shoots back at him, but Finn's already disappeared into his room.

***

 

"Finn, I can't."

Poe's looking up at him with sad eyes and an apologetic smile on his face.

"Yes, you can."

"Finn, I've got a dog. I've got possessions- your flat is tiny, and-"

He cuts off, avoiding Finn's eyes with his bottom lip between his teeth. Finn knows.

"And you've only known me three weeks," he finishes quietly. Poe looks up into his face and sighs.

"And I've only known you three weeks," he echoes. "I like you, Finn. A lot. Last night was- I don't want it to be the only night. It's just, it's not exactly normal dating is it? I can't kiss you, sleep with you, _and_ move in with you all before a first date, I can't dump my life on you like that, it's not fair."

Something inside Finn's chest twists.

"So it's not normal? Look, I-" Finn stops. He takes a deep breath to collect himself because he can't tell if his heart is hurting because Poe's right or because he doesn't want him to be. "I know it's fast. I know. But you can sleep on the couch, or take my bed and I'll go on the couch, if it's too quick. But, Poe, you can't go back to living with him, that's not fair on _you_."

"No, no, I know, I wouldn't. There's beds at the airbase. I'll stay there until I can sort myself out."

"Is my couch seriously going to come as a last resort after sleeping in an airbase?"

Finn means it to sound like a joke, but his insecurity leaks through his voice and Poe's eyes widen as he sits up to kiss Finn slowly before pulling back and shaking his head.

"No, Finn, no," he says. "Finn, I don't want to uproot your life. Or Rey's for that matter. You've been so kind to me, I can't burden you like that."

Finn lets out a short laugh of relief.

"You couldn't possibly do that," he breathes, pressing his lips to Poe's, bringing one hand up to the back of his neck and the other to tangle in his thick hair. 

"You're not a burdening me with anything. Stay," Finn whispers, kissing the tip of his nose, both cheeks, the curve of his ear, before returning to Poe's lips. He runs a hand over his jaw, rubbing circles against Poe's stubble, and Poe tilts his head back as Finn kisses him deeper, tugging softly at his hair and only pulling back when Poe lets out a whimper.

"Stay," Finn repeats softly, drawing patterns at the nape of Poe's neck with his forefinger.

Poe looks at him for a long while.

"Do I _have_ to take the couch?"

Finn grins kisses him again.

**Author's Note:**

> apologies for overuse of commas, overuse of italics, and overuse of kissing.  
> these two just make my cold heart melt.


End file.
